This is what Black 2 would have looked like

Criterion has released two images of unreleased shooter Black 2.

The shots, released by the studio’s creative director Alex Ward, were taken from Black 2’s previously unseen “Target X” video – presumably created to aid the cancelled game’s development process.

“Just for @geoffkeighley then – first frame from what was we called the Black 2 “Target X” video,” Ward tweeted.

“And before anybody asks. No. We’re not doing it. Just a bit of fun that’s all. I need the hard drive space so it’s being deleted as I go”.

Responding to fan questions, Ward said that he believed the game “probably wouldn’t hold up” to today’s standards. “Times have sure changed,” he said.

“I think that Black was exactly what it set out to be – a standout PS2 FPS experience,” he continued. “People worked INCREDIBLY HARD to get that game out and it was new to everyone… We were incredibly limited by the PS2 hardware so streaming geometry and trying to do decent AI was tough to do.”

Black released to critical acclaim on PS2 and Xbox in February 2006, but the developer has previously ruled out a return to the series.

Back in 2008, Criterion’s Craig Sullivan said that the team was “not looking at making another Black game anytime soon, although the rumors never seem to go away and we still get a lot of letters from fans, we’re honestly not working on that game at the moment. I doubt the rumours will go away though.”

Criterion is currently working on Need For Speed: Rivals and “special, secret stuff”.

Source: @AlexanderJWard